Your logline as a revision tool

Did your manuscript get a pass from maybe 50 literary agents thus far?

Or, is something still bothering you about your manuscript and you can’t put your finger on it?

Do you want a handy tool to help you cut excess words and scenes? Or help finding the missing scenes?

Start revising with your logline (or a new and improved logline).

A logline is that one-sentence summation of a plot. It’s a valuable tool for steering the revision of every chapter of your novel or the scenes of your screenplay.

To write an effective logline, focus on the protagonist AND antagonist. Include a deadline or urgency.

An effective logline is the CONTROL for every chapter and scene. Your writing and revision work has to answer to the logline, chapter by chapter.

TAKE ACTION:  Type the logline at the top of every chapter or at least put the logline nearby so you can read it before going into each chapter.

The logline at the head of every chapter will alert you to what doesn’t belong or what might be missing.

You likely will find things to change, even if it’s only deleting a small paragraph you don’t need or editing a chapter hook you can sharpen.

The logline as a revision tool has 2 basic tenets: 

1) Keep it to 50 or fewer words and one smooth sentence with no more than two commas if any commas at all.

2) Keep it in a pattern answering this:  Who must do what action/decision by what deadline against who or what?

Here’s a quick, off-the-cuff logline example from the movie The Wizard of Oz: “In order to find her way home, Dorothy must survive obstacles thrown at her by the evil Wicked Witch and find the Wizard of Oz.” (25 words)

Every “chapter” of my manuscript has to be about escaping the witch so Dorothy can get home (for serious reasons I also build into the story).

Keep reminding readers of the urgent deadline for the protagonist. The logline is there to remind you of that, chapter by chapter and scene by scene. The story’s scenes/chapters:  A crystal ball shows how much her auntie missed and needed Dorothy; an hourglass with sand sifts down to her doom and the doom for her dog; Dorothy sees friends such as the Scarecrow attacked and left with stuffing pulled out of him. The bad stuff just keeps happening.

Sometimes at chapter beginnings we writers feel we must “build up” to the action or explain something first because the reader won’t “get it” if we don’t set it up. While that might be true here and there, most of the time readers want exciting stuff unfolding RIGHT NOW, with the explanations coming in the “scene sequel” AFTER the action or within the next scene.

An effective logline can save you time and headaches. It’s your “steering wheel.”

A sharp logline can make revising easier and more rewarding.